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Mourning of Imam al-Husayn(A.S.) in the View of Imam al-Reza(A.S.)
Many traditions have been related from Imam al-Reza(A.S.) concerning Sayyid al-Shuhadā, Imam al-Husayn(A.S.) denoting his holiness’ special favor with his ancestor, especially regarding visitation of his shrine (ziyāra) and weeping for him.”
Sometimes he quoted the Apostle of Allāh as saying: “The murderer of al-Husayn b. ‘Alī is in a coffin of fire and on him is half of the torment of the people of the world.” He also quoted the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) as saying: “The most evil one of the umma will kill al-Husayn…”
Imam al-Reza said, “When they took the decapitated head of al-Husayn b. ‘Alī to Shām, Yazīd (God’s curse on him) ordered that a tablecloth be laid down. Then, he and his companions started to eat and drink beer; when they finished eating and drinking, he ordered the head to be put in a tub in front of his throne and the chess board to be placed over the tub. Yazīd (God’s curse on him) started to play chess with his companions while swearing at al-Husayn, his father (A.S.), his grandfather (S.A.W.) and making fun of them. Whenever he won the game, he would drink three gulps of beer, and poured the leftover on the ground next to the tub.
Whoever is our Shi‘a is to abstain from drinking beer and playing chess; and the Almighty and Glorious Allāh will wipe out the sins of whoever sees beer and a chess board and remembers al-Husayn(A.S.) and curses Yazīd and Āl Ziyād, even if his sins be as many as the number of the stars.
In another hadīth, ‘Abd al-Salām b. Sālih asked Imam al-Reza(A.S.): “What is your opinion about the tradition related on the authority of Imam al-Sadiq (A.S.) saying: ‘When the Qā’im (A.S.) rises up, he will kill the offspring of the murderers of Imam al-Husayn(A.S.).’ The Imam (A.S.) answered: ‘That is right.’ Then he asked: ‘Then what is the meaning of the following words of God Almighty? ﴾No bearer shall bear another's burden.﴿ Qur'an: 35/18. His holiness said, ‘God is true in all that He says. However, the offspring of the murderers of Imam al-Husayn(A.S.) will be pleased with the deeds of their forefathers, and will even be proud of it. Whoever is pleased with something is like the one who has actually performed it. If someone gets killed in the East and someone else in the West is pleased that he was killed, then he will be considered to be a partner in that crime in the sight of the Almighty and Glorious God’.”
Imam al-Reza(A.S.) and the Visitation (Ziyāra) of Imam al-Husayn(A.S.)
Imam al-Reza(A.S.) had specially favored calling people to visit [the tomb of] Sayyid al-Shuhadā (A.S.) and to weep over his martyrdom. Following are some examples in this respect.
Imam al-Reza(A.S.) quoted Imam al-Sadiq (A.S.) as saying: “The time that al-Ḥusayn’s (A.S.) pilgrims spend on ziyāra is not reckoned as part of their life.”
Imam al-Reza(A.S.) said, “Whoever visits (makes a pilgrimage to) Husayn b. ‘Alī (A.S.) while recognizing his rightfulness, is among those in companionship with Allāh over His Throne.” Then he recited the following verse: ﴾Indeed the God wary will be amid gardens and streams, in the abode of truthfulness with an omnipotent King.﴿ (Q. 54: 54, 55)”
Sometimes he would say: “Whoever visits (makes a pilgrimage to) Abī ‘Abd Allāh’s tomb near Euphrates is like the one who has visited God on His Throne.”
He would also sometimes say: “Whoever visits (goes on pilgrimage to) Abī ‘Abd Allāh’s tomb [is as] they have performed Ḥajj and ‘Umra.” The narrator asked him: “Will they be exempt from the obligatory Ḥajj?” The Imam (A.S.) said, “No. Ziyāra of Imam al-Husayn is the Hajj of the weak until they can afford to go on the Hajj pilgrimage to the Holy House of God. Don’t you know that everyday seven thousand angels circumambulate the House of God and when the night falls they go away and another group comes down to circumambulate the House until morning? Verily the tomb of al-Husayn(A.S.) is more honorable in the sight of Allāh than the House of God; at any prayer time seven thousand angels, with disheveled and dusty hair, descend on him so much as they have no other turn (to come down again) until the Day of Resurrection!”
He also said, “Whoever is by the tomb of al-Husayn(A.S.) on the day of ‘Arafa, Allāh would return him with a delighted heart.”
Imam al-Reza(A.S.) and the Soil of Sayyid al-Shuhada’s (A.S.) Grave
A man said, “Imam al-Reza(A.S.) sent me a bundle of clothes from Khurasan; there was some soil in it. I asked the holy Imam’s emissary: What is this? He said, It is the soil of al-Ḥusayn’s (A.S.) grave. Imam al-Reza(A.S.) never sends clothes or things [to someone] unless he puts in it some of this soil and says: This soil is for safety, with the consent of Allāh.”
In another tradition, when someone got some red-colored soil from the upper part of the Sayyid al-Shuhada’s (A.S.) grave and took it to Imam al-Reza(A.S.), his holiness placed it on the palm of his hand, smelled it, and then cried so much as his tears rolled down his cheeks and said, “This is the soil of my forefather.”
Imam al-Reza(A.S.) and the Importance of Mourning for Sayyid al-Shuhadā (A.S.)
Hasan b. Faddal said, His holiness Imam al-Reza(A.S.) said, “Whoever remembers our woes and afflictions and weeps over what has befallen us, will be in the same rank with us on the Day of Resurrection. And whoever reminds others of our afflictions and weeps and make them weep, will not be tearful on the day [when other] eyes pour tears; and whoever sits in a session in which our instructions are revived, their hearts will not die on the day when hearts die.”
Pouring Tears for Sayyid al-Shuhadā’s (A.S.) Afflictions
Imam al-Reza(A.S.) said, “Muharram is a month in which the people of jāhiliyya regarded warfare as unlawful, (but) our blood was considered lawful in it, we were desecrated, our children and women were taken captive, our tents were set on fire, our properties were plundered, and our relation to the Apostle of Allāh was disrespected.
Verily al-Husayn’s day (of affliction and murder) made our eyelids sore (through bitterly weeping), let our tears pour, degraded our dear one in the land of sorrow and tribulation, bequeathing pain and suffering to us until the Resurrection Day. The weepers ought to weep over such a one as al-Husayn(A.S.); verily weeping for him removes great sins.”
When Muḥarram would start, no one would see the Imam laugh as he was overwhelmed with sorrow so long as ten days passed. On the tenth day, it was his day of wailing and weeping. He would say: “Today is the day al-Husayn, peace and blessing of Allāh upon him, was murdered.”
Weeping for Imam al-Husayn(A.S.)
Rayyān b. Shabīb said, “I went to see Imam al-Reza(A.S.) on the first day of Muharram; he said, ‘O son of Shabīb! Are you fasting?’ I said I was not. He said, ‘Today is the day on which Zechariah prayed.’ Then, he said, ‘O son of Shabīb! Muḥarram is the month in which the people of Jāhilliya would regard warfare and oppression as unlawful out of respect for this month; but this umma had neither respect for this month nor any reverence for their Holy Prophet. In this time, they killed the Holy Prophet’s grandson, took women captive, and plundered properties; may Allāh not forgive them!”
“O son of Shabīb! If you ever cry for any reason, cry for al-Husayn b. ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, whom they beheaded like a ram; with him eighteen men from his household were killed who were matchless on the face of the earth. Heavens and the earth cried for his being killed; four thousand angels descended for helping him and since they found him dead, they would remain beside his grave, disheveled and soiled, until Resurrection as his companions and their motto would be: “O Avengers of al-Husayn!”
“O son of Shabīb! If it makes you happy to meet Allāh without (having committed any) sins, make a visitation (ziyāra) to al-Husayn(A.S.). O son of Shabīb! If it makes you happy to settle in lofty abodes with the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) in Paradise, curse the murderers of al-Husayn.”
“O son of Shabīb! If it makes you happy to have the reward of the one who was killed along with al-Husayn, whenever you remember him say: ‘I wish I were with him and attained great salvation.”
“O son of Shabīb! If it makes you happy to be with us in the high ranks of Paradise, be sad in our sadness and happy in our happiness and take it upon yourself our wilāya (friendship), since if someone loves a stone (or takes it as their friend), Allāh would muster them along with that stone on the Resurrection Day.”
Reference:
Story of the Sun
A Look at Imam al-Reza's Life
Author: Sayyid Muhammad Najafi Yazdi
Translated by: Ahmad Rezwani
Published by: Islamic Research Foundation, Astan Quds Razavi, Mashhad - I.R. Iran
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